A new genetic survey method developed in Australia may allow the genes of extinct cows to be farmed for future bovine benefits such as increased disease resistance.

The genome-wide survey has been used to examine the genome of the auroch (Bos primigenius), a predecessor of today's cow. The technique could also be used to genetically sequence other extinct animals.

Importantly the process used is a much cheaper one than that previously used by an international team to sequence the Neanderthal genome.

Co-author of the report Professor Alan Cooper of the University of Adelaide says their work will make it easier for agricultural scientists to trace evolutionary pathways and examine lost genetic diversity.

"We've now created a way in which we're looking and surveying rapidly all in one experiment, tens of thousands of genes that are potentially important or useful in changes that have an impact on the animal," says Cooper, who is part of the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA (ACAD).

"It's basically rediscovering the genetic ancestry of these animals."

Ruminant history

The ACAD work by Cooper and his colleague Dr Kefei Chen was done as part of an international project to map the evolutionary history of the higher ruminants, a group that includes animals as diverse as the cow, the giraffe and the deer.

The development of this important group of mammals has been difficult to trace because it evolved into so many different species so quickly in the mid-Eocene period, roughly 40 million years ago.

The new genetic analysis, which was made possible by the recent mapping of the genome of the cow, shows the genetic links between 48 different cattle breeds. It also provides information about breed formation and the long history of domestication.

Genetic diversity

The results shed some light on the vast amount of genetic diversity that was lost in the domestication of the ruminants.

"If you want information about genes and what variation is possible and what might be done, we can tell you that by mapping the wild types.

"By going back and surveying the ancestors of these species, we can say that this is the genetic diversification that was there before it all got lost."

This information could potentially be used by cattle-breeders and agricultural scientists seeking to identify genes possessed by ancient ruminants that may be used to help their modern-day relatives.

Director of the Animal Genetics Laboratory at the University of Queensland , Dr Nick Jonsson describes the ancient genome research as "beautiful", but cautions that it's still extraordinarily difficult to identify disease resistant genes even in living animals.

"It's immensely difficult to identify the genetic basis of resistance to disease in animals that exist today.

"Given that we can't do that with animals where we can truly effectively measure their resistance, how difficult is it to go back and use genes that are frozen in the past?"